TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's Journal1 year prison sentence for man who lured A&M professor into online relationship that lead to suicide
A Louisiana man was sentenced to one year in federal prison Monday for using an underage relative to lure a Texas A&M University professor into a sexually explicit online relationship that led to blackmail, and ended when the educator leapt to his death from a campus parking garage.
Daniel Timothy Duplaisir, 38, had demanded in insulting, obscenity-laced tirades that James Aune, chairman of the school's Communication Department, pay him to $5,000 to cover the cost of therapy for a supposedly transgender teenage relative.
"If I do not hear from you, I swear to God Almighty that police, your place of employment, students all over the Internet -- all of them -- will be able to see your conversations, texts and the pictures you sent," Duplaisir said one of several threatening messages as he sought to more and more money from the professor.
But in a final act on Jan. 8 2013, at 10:29 a.m. the 59-year-old professor turned the table on Duplaisir.
More at http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/One-year-prison-sentence-for-man-who-lured-A-M-4991514.php?cmpid=hpbn .
The Root of the Resistance to ACA
By Carol MorganThe resistance to the ACA is not about politics; nor is it about the economy or its website full of technological glitches. The opposition is rooted in something much deeper; the profoundly engrained and embedded basic human nature that’s resistance to change. Since the beginning of time, with every new discovery and with each new invention, there are those who dig their heels into the dirt and grudgingly resist progress—even when it is in their own best interest to embrace it.
Throughout history, human beings resist change; fighting tooth and nail against anything that alters their routine.
Thousands of years ago, a Greek philosopher, Herclitus planted the seed of an eternal and enduring truth: Change is the only constant. Humans have fought against his words ever since.
Socrates, in Plato’s Phaedrus believed that the recording of the spoken word was the beginning of the end of intelligence. In his mind, the only legitimate discourse was the oral tradition. The written word symbolized the fall of mankind and legitimate knowledge.
More at http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/carol-morgan/2013-11-17/root-resistance-aca .
Bomb threat disrupts American Eagle flight from Dallas/Fort Worth to Columbus
Source: Dallas Morning News
Authorities are investigating a bomb threat this morning aboard an American Eagle flight from D/FW Airport to Columbus, Ohio.
A threatening note was found on Flight 302 from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Port Columbus International Airport, American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said. The contents of the letter were not released.
The plane landed without incident shortly before 11 a.m. Dallas time (or noon Eastern) and was isolated on the taxiway in Columbus.
Smith said 133 passengers and five crew members were on board the MD-80 aircraft. A passenger said they’ve been removed from the plane and their bags were placed in a secure room.
Read more: http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2013/11/bomb-threat-disrupts-american-eagle-flight-from-dallasfort-worth-to-columbus.html/
Merger, Wright amendment’s end bringing big changes to Dallas air travel
The coming year is shaping up to be a monumental one for airlines and aviation in North Texas.
If all goes according to plan, Fort Worth-based American Airlines will implement its merger with US Airways, making the leap from the nation’s third-largest carrier to the world’s largest.
In addition, the Wright amendment, the federal law that has restricted flights out of Dallas Love Field since early 1980, will expire in October, opening up Love Field to nonstop flights anywhere in the United States.
“You’ve a whole bunch of things going on,” economist Bernard Weinstein said. “You’ve got the consummation of the merger between American Airlines and US Airways. You’ve got the Wright amendment going away. You’ve got the DART line arriving at Terminal A [at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport] next year.”
More at http://www.dallasnews.com/business/airline-industry/20131116-merger-wright-amendments-end-bringing-big-changes-to-dallas-air-travel.ece .
Houston’s biggest New Year’s Eve party cancelled due to lack of funding
HOUSTON – The New Year’s Eve party in downtown Houston has been cancelled because the mayor's office couldn't find a corporate sponsor to help pay the tab.
For the last three years, Discovery Green has hosted the biggest New Year's Eve bash in downtown Houston. But now, at least for this year, the party's off.
"There was a very good faith effort to try and find sponsorship out of the private sector for this and the sponsorship hasn't come through," said Bob Eury with Central Houston, Inc.
There are also no plans for any downtown fireworks on New Year's Eve. The mayor's special events director was in charge of finding a sponsor to help pay the $500,000 tab for this party.
More at http://www.khou.com/news/neighborhood-news/Houstons-biggest-New-Years-Eve-party-cancelled-due-to-lack-of-funding-232139301.html .
Liberals Aren't Truly Opposed to Merit Pay for Teachers. They Just Don't Know What It Is.
He said in his essay that a new city manager for Dallas must be someone capable of "engaging public education in Dallas as a key determinant for long-term economic revitalization." I believe that, too. But my experience over the last year has been that many of my liberal friends who say that kind of stuff don't really believe it. That is, they say they believe until they get to the point where we have to talk about how.
Engaging public education? Are we not knee-deep already in a pretty concerted effort to do just that in the Dallas public school system? A school superintendent who is all about reform just completed a year in which he and his team achieved all of their important objectives on the road to meaningful change. But at what harrowing cost?
For bringing the city's school system several ticks down the road to real reform, Mike Miles' reward has been to barely avoid getting Michelle Rhee'd right out of town, being stripped of lucrative pay bonuses and put on probation by the school board like a kid in the corner wearing a dunce cap. I guess if he had actually failed to accomplish one of his objectives, they would have taken him out back and shot him.
The complete article is at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/11/liberals_arent_truly_opposed_t.php .
Boerne man's statewide trike trek inspired by diabetes
Ray McCutcheon's family told him his idea sounded crazy. Because when a 56-year-old with a bad back and arthritis in his knees, feet and hips tells you he wants to ride a tricycle 1,027 miles across Texas, it sounds insane.
But that didn't stop the Boerne resident from taking the ride, which he hopes will raise $100,000 for the American Diabetes Association.
Followed in an RV by his daughter Katie Holcomb, 30, McCutcheon is about halfway through his ride across the state, which started Nov. 2 in the small town of Anthony, about 20 miles northwest of El Paso.
He arrived in San Antonio on Saturday, along with 15-20 fellow riders who joined him on the 18-mile stretch from Boerne. It's the biggest entourage to accompany McCutcheon so far. Several children also joined the ride to Leon Springs.
More at http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Boerne-man-s-statewide-trike-trek-inspired-by-4988036.php .
Republicans have ground to make up in Rio Grande Valley
State senator and Democratic gubernatorial front runner Wendy Davis visited the Rio Grande Valley earlier this month, holding campaign events in Brownsville, Mission and Pharr.
Republican front runner Attorney General Greg Abbott wasn’t far behind. The man seeking to become the first Catholic governor of Texas visited Mission for an event last week and is set to visit Harlingen on Tuesday.
The attention candidates are paying to the region highlights the growing influence the area — and the Latino voters who make up the majority of its electorate — have on state politics.
“When I was a young political junkie, I would read the papers and read stories about how things were happening in the big cities, and things were rarely happening in the Valley,” said former state Rep. Aaron Peña, a Democrat-turned-Republican from Edinburg who did not seek reelection in 2012.
More at http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/article_0e2dde18-4f30-11e3-a2ad-0019bb30f31a.html .
South Texas faces juvenile jail overcrowding
EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — A South Texas county that is the poorest in the nation and faces a booming population of young people is also struggling with overcrowding at its juvenile jail facility.
Most recently on Halloween children at Hidalgo County's juvenile jail again slept on the floor after the detention center exceeded its 96 beds.
The McAllen Monitor reports (http://bit.ly/1ahoA5j) the $16.7 million, 137,000-square-foot Ramirez Juvenile Justice Center opened in December 2007, replacing a previous facility that had 28 beds. But with a rapidly growing, relatively young population, the county has quickly outgrown the new 96-bed facility.
The Texas Administrative Code forbids the center from holding more than 96 juveniles. But District Court Judge Jesse Contreras says the alternative, releasing the offenders back out into the community, would be worse.
More at http://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/South-Texas-faces-juvenile-jail-overcrowding-4989341.php?cmpid=hpts .
[font color=orange]Damn whipper-snappers trick-or-treating on Halloween clog the county hooskow.[/font]
Arlington assistant chief arrested in family violence case
ARLINGTON — An assistant police chief who just hours before had joined other police officials and officers in an event to end domestic violence was arrested early Sunday at his home on a family violence charge, police said.
Assistant Police Chief James Hawthorne was arrested early Sunday at his home on a charge of assault with bodily injury//family member, according to Arlington jail records.
He was booked into jail at 3:45 a.m. Sunday with bail set at $1,500 on the assault charge.
Hawthorne also was being held on an emergency protective order which a victim had filed, said Arlington Lt. Christoper Cook on Sunday in a telephone interview.
More at http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/11/17/5344458/arlington-assistant-chief-arrested.html?rh=1 .
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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